Jacoby's German Bar

Recommended Posts

Here'a a nice little article from the Detroit News - August 25, 2005 about Jacoby's bar downtown. For those who haven't been in the bar, it is a very great little bar to hang out in, drink good beer, and eat good German food. Also, the owner, Dick Bell, is a very nice guy and if he is there, he will tell some very good stories about the place.

German roots keep Jacoby's planted in downtown Detroit

A gathering place for everyone, the bar features 95 beers and an upstairs nightclub.

From horseshoes to Hoegaarden, downtown Detroit favorite Jacoby's German Biergarten has a long and storied history.

The building was home to a horseshoer in 1842 -- it didn't become a bar until the late 1800s -- and in the 1950s, it was a favorite hangout for local politicians, who would hammer out policies while chomping cigars and slugging whiskey in the bar's upstairs area, which housed a full law library.

The building was ravaged by a horrible fire in 1989, and the interior was rebuilt and restored later that year.

Owned by a fellow named Al Jacoby in 1904 -- he took over from a previous owner and renamed it Jacoby's from Jake's Tavern -- the bar stayed in the Jacoby family until 1995, when Michael and Dick Bell took over.

Today, Jacoby's is frequented by downtown office folk and is an ideal watering hole to meet up before or after concerts at nearby St. Andrew's Hall.